Unless otherwise indicated herein, the materials described in this section are not prior art to the claims in this application and are not admitted to be prior art by inclusion in this section.
Attaching lines, such as optical fibers, coaxial cables, power lines, or other types of utility lines, to utility poles, communications poles, power poles or streetlights is difficult and dangerous due to the height of the pole or light, and expensive due to the specialized training necessary to complete the work. For example, attachment can take place in the power zone of a utility pole or in the communications zone of a utility pole, with differing requirements for the two zones and with the cost and availability of power technicians creating substantial commercial challenges. Further complicating matters are requirements that may dictate minimum crew size, relationships between crew size and the number of foreman and managers, and in the case of power zone work, the ratio of master electricians to apprentices. This confluence of labor restrictions drives up the cost of construction activities and increases the likelihood that pole attachments become a schedule gating factor in overall market deployment.
For example, the current solutions for attaching optical fiber to a pole are clunky and require multiple steps. In many cases, the current solutions utilize a bolt placed entirely though the pole to secure a fiber clamp into place via a washer and nut. In other cases, the current solutions involve placing a metal strap around the pole, securing the metal strap in one or more places with a nut and bolt, and then securing a clamp to the strap via a nut and bolt. These solutions necessitate a high degree of manual manipulation by a technician who must work from an elevated platform such as the bucket of a bucket truck. Moreover, the current solutions typically call for the use of several tools, for instance a wrench, a drill, vice grips, etc., and are man-hour intensive. The multitude of tools and extensive labor which are currently required for securing fibers to poles greatly increases the cost of such operations.